Patients with influenza admitted to a tertiary-care hospital in Riyadh between 2018 and 2022: characteristics, outcomes and factors associated with ICU admission and mortality.

BACKGROUND: Influenza is a common cause of hospital admissions globally with regional variations in epidemiology and clinical profile. We evaluated the characteristics and outcomes of patients with influenza admitted to a tertiary-care center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort of adult patients admitted with polymerase chain reaction-confirmed influenza to King Abdulaziz Medical City-Riyadh between January 1, 2018, and May 31, 2022. We compared patients who required intensive care unit (ICU) admission to those who did not and performed multivariable logistic regression to assess the predictors of ICU admission and hospital mortality. RESULTS: During the study period, 675 adult patients were hospitalized with influenza (median age 68.0 years, females 53.8%, hypertension 59.9%, diabetes 55.1%, and chronic respiratory disease 31.1%). Most admissions (83.0%) were in the colder months (October to March) in Riyadh with inter-seasonal cases even in the summertime (June to August). Influenza A was responsible for 79.0% of cases, with H3N2 and H1N1 subtypes commonly circulating in the study period. Respiratory viral coinfection occurred in 12 patients (1.8%) and bacterial coinfection in 42 patients (17.4%). 151 patients (22.4%) required ICU admission, of which 62.3% received vasopressors and 48.0% mechanical ventilation. Risk factors for ICU admission were younger age, hypertension, bilateral lung infiltrates on chest X-ray, and Pneumonia Severity Index. The overall hospital mortality was 7.4% (22.5% for ICU patients, p < 0.0001). Mortality was 45.0% in patients with bacterial coinfection, 30.9% in those requiring vasopressors, and 29.2% in those who received mechanical ventilation. Female sex (odds ratio [OR], 2.096; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.070, 4.104), ischemic heart disease (OR, 3.053; 95% CI 1.457, 6.394), immunosuppressed state (OR, 7.102; 95% CI 1.803, 27.975), Pneumonia Severity Index (OR, 1.029; 95% CI, 1.017, 1.041), leukocyte count and serum lactate level (OR, 1.394; 95% CI, 1.163, 1.671) were independently associated with hospital mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Influenza followed a seasonal pattern in Saudi Arabia, with H3N2 and H1N1 being the predominant circulating strains during the study period. ICU admission was required for > 20%. Female sex, high Pneumonia Severity Index, ischemic heart disease, and immunosuppressed state were associated with increased mortality.

Bronchial Asthma With Scimitar Syndrome: A Case Report.

Scimitar syndrome is a rare congenital cardiopulmonary anomaly; it is also called venolobar syndrome, hypogenic lung syndrome, and Halasz syndrome. The syndrome is characterized by cardiac dextroposition, right lung and pulmonary artery hypoplasia as well as complete or partial anomalous pulmonary venous drainage of the right lung. We report a case of a 22-month-old full-term male child with a severe form of scimitar syndrome diagnosed at birth. The X-ray demonstrated dextrocardia and right lung hypoplasia, while the echocardiography clearly illustrated the scimitar vein. The patient had multiple ER visits and hospitalizations due to asthma exacerbation that was aggravated by recurrent respiratory tract infections; he responded well to asthma medications during his admissions yet compliance to his prophylactic asthma medications was poor at home.